93Queen

Ruchie Freier is a tenacious lawyer in Brooklyn leading a group of Hasidic Jewish women on a mission. They hope to create the first all-female ambulance corps in New York City, despite fierce opposition from the men in their community.

Available on CBC Gem

93Queen

The Passionate Eye

In the Hasidic enclave of Borough Park, Brooklyn, a group of tenacious Hasidic women are on a mission to create the first all-female volunteer ambulance corps in New York City. Led by no-nonsense lawyer and mother of six Rachel “Ruchie” Freier, they challenge their community’s status quo in the face of fierce opposition. With unprecedented access, 93Queen offers a unique portrayal of a group of empowered women set on shattering the glass ceiling in the unlikeliest of communities.

Borough Park is home to the largest volunteer ambulance corps in the world known as Hatzolah, an organization that has steadfastly banned women from its ranks. In a gender-segregated society where most women don’t drive, Ruchie is determined to shake up the “boys club”. She creates Ezras Nashim (Hebrew for “Helping Women”) to provide dignified emergency medical care to the Hasidic women and girls of Borough Park.

93Queen follows the formation and launch of Ezras Nashim against incredible odds. Confronted with the patriarchal attitudes that dominate Hasidic society, the women are challenged at every turn. Ruchie, who lives within the strict religious rules of her society, must constantly balance her faith and her belief in her power as a woman. “The worst thing to tell me is that I cannot do something because I am a woman...and because I am a religious woman,”she says.

MORE: This mother of six is a judge and like no other woman in her Brooklyn Hasidic community

In the midst of this already ground-breaking endeavor, Ruchie announces that she will run for civil court judge in Brooklyn, and after a hard-fought and contentious election, she becomes the first Hasidic woman elected to office in the United States.

 

Credits

Stream Now on CBC Gem

93Queen

The Passionate Eye

Related Content

Profile This mother of six is a judge and like no other woman in her Brooklyn Hasidic community More »